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Ripe Tomato Catsup

A tomato-based condiment made by boiling tomatoes, vinegar, spices, and sugar, then straining and bottling.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
From a historical cookbook (Internet Archive) · 12 ingredients
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Why it works: Clove and allspice match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 7,874 recipes. Both carry estragole, which smells anise, licorice. The science ↓

Ripe Tomato Catsup

Ingredients

Directions

Make the ketchup

  1. Combine all ingredients in a large pot.

  2. Boil for 3 hours, stirring constantly to prevent burning.

Strain and bottle

  1. Once cooled, strain the mixture through a sieve.

  2. Bottle the catsup for use.

Recipe from a historical cookbook (Internet Archive).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Clove + allspicetop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together7,874 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

  2. Allspice + mustardtop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,928 recipes

    Shared aroma: methyleugenol (clove, spice).

  3. Tomato + garlictop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Pepper + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Pepper + allspicetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together6,395 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Provide the main body, moisture and tomato flavor of the ketchup.
Cider vinegar
Adds acidity that gives the ketchup its tang and helps preserve it.
Sugar
Adds sweetness and, as it cooks down, thickens the sauce and deepens its color.
Onions
Contribute savory depth and body as they break down during long simmering.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma and savory flavor that mellows during boiling.

The step that matters

Stirring during the 3-hour boil. Sugar and tomato solids scorch easily on the bottom of a pot over long heat, and constant stirring spreads heat evenly and prevents burnt flavors.

Swap the tomato

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (cider, vinegar, pepper, clove, allspice, mustard, garlic):

  1. Horseradishfits better
  2. Shallotfits better
  3. Broccolifits better
  4. Tomatothe original

Fit is the average pairing score against cider, vinegar, pepper, clove, allspice, mustard, garlic. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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